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April 12, 2013

Value of geospatial services to the United States economy

According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) the geospatial services industry in the United States generates annual revenues of $75 billion annually. That is about 0.5 % of the US GDP. The report breaks the geospatial services industry into geospatial data including maps and imagery, geospatial software, applications and devices and geo-expert services. End users of geospatial services are government, business, and consumers.

For comparison studies of the contribution of the geospatial industry in Australia and New Zealand estimated a contribution of between 0.6 and 1.2% of the GDP in the case of Australia and 0.6 % in the case of New Zealand.

The BCG report estimates the economic impact of the geospatial services industry on government, business, and consumers is estimated to be $1.6 trillion in revenues (greater efficacy) and $1.4 trillion in cost savings (greater efficiency).

The BCG study reports that the value that consumers ascribe to geospatial services is about $37 billion per year or about $350 per year for the average U.S. household.

BCG also estimates that more than 5 million employees in the U.S. in a variety of industries use geospatial services as part of their job.

BCG forecasts that the economic impact of geospatial services in three business functions, marketing, logistics, and strategic decision-making will increase by at least 10 percent a year over the next five years.

BCG forecasts that the geospatial services industry will reach $100 billion in annual revenues over the next five years. It projects that the efficiency gain in the U.S. economy will reach $2.6 trillion. But the report cautions that to continue this growth will require sustained public- and private-sector cooperation and partnership, open policies governing collection and dissemination of location-based data and increased technical education and training at all levels.